


Saving Grace

by Suzann89x



Category: Harry Potter (movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Romance, Teacher-Student Relationship, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-02-24 08:10:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2574371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzann89x/pseuds/Suzann89x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the Fourth year.  The Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts.  Dumbledore has just rescued a young girl with a deadly family member from certain doom and provides sanctuary at the school.  With a Death Eater on the inside, and the girl's sister missing, alliances must change and secrets revealed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Saving Grace

The girl sat, frozen, in the uncomfortable wooden chair, staring down at the palms of her hands, which were resting in her lap. She wanted to listen to the conversation around her, but she was too exhausted and too worried about her 6-year-old sister, Lexi; she had not seen her since the commotion at the small shack they had been staying in had began. It was now after one in the morning, seven hours after the chaos had erupted. All she knew was that she had been whisked away around 7pm, amidst yelling, shrieking, smoke, and fire. The elderly man with a long grey beard, the same man who now seemed to be running the haphazard meeting, had rescued her from the madness. Grace felt very much like a child in time-out, awaiting her punishment to be decided; the nearly ancient old man was pacing back and forth in front of a large desk, while three others stood off to the sides, carrying on a rather intense debate. 

“Well, this is simply ridiculous,” exclaimed the only woman, her hair in a tight bun on top of her head, “Surely the girl should remain here, for safekeeping.”

“Indeed, Minerva,” the old man said, continuing his stride, “It is not that decision vexes us.”

“Then why on earth are we here at this hour?”

A rather scary looking man with a badly mangled face and an odd false eye answered, “Because the old man is crazy, McGonagall, you know that.”

“Alastor,” the bearded pacing man spoke, “Give me a moment; we will figure this out.”

“Let him be,” the woman, McGonagall said, “Albus has his own way.”  
The girl briefly looked up, grudgingly thinking that this man, ‘Albus’s way had probably gotten her granny killed, and who knows what had happened to Lexi?  
She returned to looking at her hands, watching as the other occupants’ shadows moved, melted, and flickered over her trembling palms. 

The girl waited in silence for two and a half hours, determinedly gazing down into her lap, her chestnut hair falling in curtains on either side of her face as the three people carried on their conversation.  
She idly wondered why the third man was remaining so silent, standing back in the shadows, never speaking.  
“As Miss Riddle here is over the age of she can be considered a first year, we must decide how she is to remain here without causing too much suspicion; but how?” Albus mused.  
“We must figure out how to do this,” McGonagall said, panic creeping into her voice, “There must be a way…she is a fifth year; no student has ever transferred to Hogwarts in the middle of their schooling. But, if we do not keep her protected, she will certainly be killed –“  
“-Or worse,” the man in the shadows said.  
“Yes, yes,” Albus nodded, “But how can she stay safely here when her schooling should be nearing a close?”  
“We lie,” Grace said quietly, not lifting her gaze from her hands, “You all seem to think if I’m not here, I’ll die. I don’t really want that to happen…can’t we lie?”  
“Won’t work,” the mangled Alastor Moody said.  
“Wait,” the man in the shadows said, “It just might,” he emerged from the darkness.  
“Severus,” McGonagall began, “Not a single student here will not question the sudden appearance of a new addition to the student body. There is no plausible way to make that work.”  
Albus spoke almost sadly, “There is always a way, Minerva.”  
Stepping forward, Moody nodded, “It’s possible.”  
Severus Snape came farther into the light, “If every single circumstance were just right…”  
“Yes,” Dumbledore remarked, “it could happen; the girl could be have transferred from another school, Beauxbatons, perhaps...yes, the girl could remain here.”  
“Grace!” Grace burst out, “My name is Grace! Not ‘the girl’; my name is Grace! Grace Riddle! And I’m right here! Don’t talk about me as though I’m not.”  
The four other occupants in the room looked startled at Grace’s sudden frustration.  
Snape looked sideways at her, “Yes. You are indeed here. What would you suggest we do?”  
Grace was thankful that this man had acknowledged her – no one else was even looking her direction. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Well, for starters you can tell me if Lexi is okay.”  
“Lexi is…?” McGonagall asked.  
“My sister!” Grace answered, “She was there when everything happened. She’s only 6; what happened to her? Is she okay?”  
Dumbledore sighed, “I’m afraid we don’t know.”  
Grace squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will his answer to change. She couldn’t believe this “Albus Dumbledore” person, who had taken her away from the chaos, the fighting, and the fire, had just left a 6-year old in the midst of all that. As this thought entered her mind, Grace quickly became very angry with this old man who had abandoned her sister. She felt the heat of anger rise up inside her, growing into boiling rage. She glared in his direction, furious.  
“So, what exactly am I supposed to do?” she spat at him, “Just sit around doing nothing while Lexi is God knows where?”  
“I’m so sorry, dear,” McGonagall said sympathetically, “We just don’t know.”  
Dumbledore frowned, “It’s lucky the school year is only two weeks in, seeing as you will be playing the part of a 5th year; although it’s a role you must play convincingly – you’ll need to attend classes, no matter if you already know the lessons.”  
Grace shook her head, unable to believe how little information the old man knew, “My sister and I have been on the run since our parents died a three and a half years ago; I haven’t been to able to go to school since then – I’m actually behind...probably more like a third year, really.”  
Alastor Moody crossed his arms, “Well, I’m sure having He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as an uncle would’ve caused a problem or two. We’ll discuss which year you should be in later.”  
“Please don’t put me in 5th – I’ll look like a fool…And he’s not my uncle!” Grace said through gritted teeth, “Tom is my Dad’s half-brother! He’s only my half-uncle, but I have never even met him!”  
“Which is why you’re still alive,” Snape commented.  
“Yeah, I know.”

“Albus,” McGonagall spoke quietly, “She – Grace – hasn’t been sorted; if she is to be a ‘student’, which House will she be placed in?”  
Alastor Moody grabbed what looked like a pile of dirty rags off a nearby table, “Let’s just sort her now.”  
Upon further inspection, Grace saw that what she had thought was simply old laundry was actually a ratty old hat.  
“No, Mad-Eye,” Dumbledore took the hat from him, “She needs the utmost protection,” he addressed Grace, “You’ll be in Slytherin; Severus can provide the best safety.”  
Grace couldn’t help but yawn widely and rub her eyes – it was now 5 in the morning; these people had been talking for four solid hours! She was glad it was Sunday morning; she wouldn’t have to get up early to attend classes.  
Snape was apparently the only one to see her signs of exhaustion, “Dumbledore, are we done here? It seems the most pressing matters have been taken care of.”  
“Yes,” the Headmaster said, then addressed Grace, “Professor Snape will lead you to your House’s dormitory.”  
Grace rose from the chair as Snape said, “This way, Miss Riddle.”  
She followed Snape, dressed entirely in black, out of the room and down a wide hall, quietly trailing several paces behind. They turned down one corridor, then another, and then a third before entering what Grace assumed was the main portion of the castle. Enormous and only dimly lit, Grace closed the distance with which she was following Snape, afraid she would lose sight of him.  
“The dormitory is quite a ways,” Snape commented as he quickened his pace. He headed up a staircase. Grace came to a halt, looking up at the highest levels, into the empty abyss below each of the many staircases.  
She cleared her throat, which got Snape’s attention; he turned, already two steps up, “Is there a problem?”  
Grace did not look at him; she was focused on the highest staircase she could see, envisioning herself flailing uselessly in a slow descent off the edge of it – her stomach lurched. “It’s – it’s high,” she said.  
“You are afraid of heights?”  
“More like of falling.”  
Smirking slightly, Snape said, “There are handrails.”  
“Not at the start of them,” Grace pointed out, “which is also the top in most places.”  
Grace closed her eyes and mumbled encouraging words silently to herself, then took a deep breath and stepped up onto the stairs, “It’s just this one, right?”  
Snape rolled his eyes, then nodded.  
He led Grace to the Slytherin common room, told her the girls dormitory was down a narrow stone corridor on the left, and then left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exhausted, Grace slept most of Sunday away. With the other members of the Slytherin House studying, practicing Quidditch, or playing Wizard’s Chess, Grace was able to sleep uninterrupted until 3 in the afternoon. She dressed and wandered into the common room.  
“Who’re you?” a young boy with a rat’s face asked as Grace sat down quietly in a leather armchair, hoping to remain unseen.  
A girl about 15 spoke in a tone used to convey scandalous news, “No one knows who she is; she just appeared in an empty bed in the middle of the night.”  
“What? Really?” another boy asked.  
Grace bit her lower lip, worried they had already spotted her for a fake student. She kept her eyes on the deep green embroidery on the rug at her feet.  
The door to the common room flew open, and Severus Snape entered; the room immediately fell silent.  
“Your attention, please,” he said. Someone coughed.  
“As I’m sure you all have noticed, there is a new addition to your House. Miss Riddle will be attending Hogwarts this year.”  
“What year are you?” a small first year girl asked.  
“She is a fifth year,” Snape answered the question; Grace looked quizzically at him – she thought the decision of what year she’d be in would have required more discussion. Plus, she was nowhere near ready for the 5th year lessons.  
Snape left without another word. Jumping off the couch, Grace tried to catch the door before it closed behind Snape, but she stumbled over some Zonko’s products strewn across the floor, and couldn’t make it into the hall for half a minute after Snape had left. He was already quite a way down the passage. Not wanting to call out for him to turn around, Grace simply quickened her pace, trailing him. He entered an empty classroom, and this time, Grace stopped the door before it closed.  
Not hearing the expected click of the door closing behind him, Snape turned around.  
Grace was standing just outside the room, holding the door open, frowning at him, “Fifth year? Fifth?” she opened the door wider, “Can I have a word?”  
Snape gave a subtle nod.  
Grace entered, letting the door slam behind her to show her frustration, “I’m not ready for 5th year!”  
Sighing, Snape walked behind the single desk at the front of the room, “You will be. You will manage.”  
“Wh-what? How will I ‘manage’, exactly?”  
“The teachers have agreed to tutor you.”  
“And why has no one told me about this?”  
Snape looked oddly at her, “I believe I just did, Miss Riddle.”  
“Okay,” Grace shifted from one foot to the other, “Hey, could you not call me ‘Miss Riddle’? I don’t want to be associated with that name.”  
“Certainly.”  
“So, when will this tutoring start?” Grace hoped she would have a bit of time to adjust to everything before she jumped into any new lessons.  
“As soon as reasonably possible,” Snape replied, “With the school hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year, scheduling sessions with the professors may prove difficult.”  
Grace nodded, “That’s, like, huge thing, I guess.”  
“Next week should be acceptable,” Snape said.  
“What will my lessons be?”  
“Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Moody, Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, and Potions.”  
“…with…?” Grace askd, “Who’ll tutor me in that?”  
“I will,” Snape said.  
“Well,” Grace almost laughed, “You have our work cut out for you; I’m dead awful at Potions.”  
“You surely are no worse than Longbottom.”  
“I dunno who that is, but I’m willing to bet you I am worse; I’m dismal – it’s sad, really.”  
“I don’t make bets with students.”  
Grace smirked, “I’m a fake student, remember?”  
Snape looked at the wall clock, “But the curfew is not fake; you should be in your dormitory.”  
Grace left and headed to the Slytherin common room.  
Her classes started in the morning, and she wanted to get some sleep. 

 

Grace managed to make it through her first week of classes without much trouble; she decided she very much liked Charms and the tiny little Flitwick that taught the class. She was, as she always had been, very good at Transfiguration, although it came so easily to her that it was extremely boring. She talked so little over those 7 days that it felt unnatural to feel words on her lips when Moody asked her a question in Defense Against The Dark Arts.  
Grace had never been good at Potions, but she had always liked it – it was very much like Chemistry.  
She absolutely hated Herbology, but was thankful that it was a quiet class – no talking required.  
Before she knew it, her first week at Hogwarts was coming to a close.


	2. Love Potion

Sunday night, Grace quickly went to the girls dormitory and sat cross-legged on her bed, reading a book. She had read a chapter and a half when a seventh year girl, Faith, sat on a nearby bed, facing Grace. Trying to ignore her was very hard; Grace could feel the girl’s eyes on her.  
“You should come down to the common room,” the Faith suggested.  
“Why?” Grace asked idly, not looking up from the pages of her book.  
“Because no one else is up here.”  
“That’s the appeal,” Grace commented, “I’m a spider.”  
Faith frowned, clearly not understanding the reference to the Brown Recluse arachnid.  
Grace closed her book and set it down on the bed, “Fine. I’ll go.”  
Faith smiled and headed into the open room scattered with armchairs, tables and chairs. Grace followed and sat at the end of a long couch.  
“Trelawney’s a hack,” a boy was saying, “You know people really believe her waffling?”  
“Divination is a useless subject anyway,” Faith chimed in.  
“Talk about useless subjects,” Malfoy, a fourth year boy with blond hair that was slicked back, and a pale, pointed face said, “Muggle Studies is complete nonsense!”  
“Who wants to study Muggles? Ugh!” the first boy said.  
Grace frowned, “Someone who wants to work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.”  
Everyone gave her disapproving looks.  
“What,” Malfoy asked, “like the goon Weasley?”  
“Draco,” a girl said, “Can you believe he’s a Pureblood?”  
“I know,” Draco Malfoy scoffed, “It’s a disgrace! You’d think he’d have some pride.”  
“He works for The Ministry? What’s wrong with the guy?” Grace asked, trying to be friendly, “Is he like a murderer or something?”  
Draco laughed ironically, “No, he just keeps bad company. Muggle-borns.”  
Grace crossed her arms, “I’m Muggle-born.”  
Everyone gasped.  
Draco stood, “What? How did a Mudblood get into Slytherin? I’m going to take this to Professor Snape.” Draco left with an air of superiority.  
Grace stayed on the couch, feeling awkward; everyone was looking at her as though she had a deadly communicable disease.   
The five minutes it took for Draco Malfoy to return were extremely uncomfortable for Grace; she kept her eyes lowered to the emerald rug, chewing her bottom lip.  
The common room door opened loudly and Malfoy entered, looking smug.  
There were a few moments of eerily prominent silence before Snape entered. He looked more than slightly irritated as he asked, “What exactly is this emergency that requires my immediate attention, Mr. Malfoy?”  
Malfoy smirked meanly, “There’s a member of the House that is a disgrace to Slytherin!”  
“Excuse me?”  
Malfoy cut a disgusted look at Grace, “Her,” he said gesturing toward Grace.  
Snape glanced at Grace, then repeated, “Excuse me?”  
Malfoy glowered at Grace, “She’s a Mudblood, Professor!”  
This seemed to spark uproar in the common room; it was suddenly filled with angry murmurs of “Mudblood”, “shameful”, “impossible”, “dirty”, “disgusting”, and worse.  
Grace kept her eyes down, her vision becoming obscured by the dampness rising in them.  
“Enough!” Snape said loudly over the noise, “Silence!”   
The room immediately became freakishly quiet, and stayed that way for 30 seconds before Malfoy said, “But, sir, how did she even get put in Slytherin?”  
“That is not your concern,” Snape said definitively.  
An older boy stepped forward out of the other students, “Professor Snape, do you realize her bloodline is…impure?”  
Severus Snape looked silently at the student.  
“Sir,” the boy continued, “She’s a Mudblood.”  
Snape’s dark eyes snapped to the boy’s face, then flicked at each of the other Slytherin students before he said, “I do not want to hear that word from another one of you.”  
“But – “ a girl started.  
“If I do hear it out of anyone, that person will be in detention. Until the end of this year.”  
The common room then was filled with mumblings about the threat.  
“No chatter. Study your lessons,” Snape snapped, “All of you. Now.”  
The Slytherins trudged to desks and chairs; Grace stayed glued to the sofa.  
“Miss Riddle,” Snape said, his eyes watching the students to make sure they behaved for a moment, “Come.” He headed out of the common room. Grace worried she was going to be scolded for something, although she couldn’t think of what, but she followed him obediently. Snape only walked a short way down the hall before opening a heavy-looking door. Grace followed him into the room cautiously; it was dark and she didn’t know this man very well at all. She was two steps inside the door before Snape flicked his wand and filled the room with light; Grace saw that they were in a classroom lined with desks for two, each with a pair of cauldrons on top of them.   
“Is this your classroom?”  
Snape nodded.  
“Okay,” Grace said hesitantly, “Why did you bring me here?”  
“The situation in the Slytherin common room was more than unpleasant. I assumed you needed to be elsewhere for a moment.”  
Grace gave a feeble smile, “That’s for sure,” she shuffled her feet, “Thanks.”  
The meanness of the students and their hateful words had seemed to drain Grace of all her energy; her legs were growing wobbly. Looking around the room, she was astonished that there were no chairs; she stepped over to the nearest desk and leaned on it.   
“Slytherins are very focused on ‘pure bloodlines’,” Snape said idly.  
Grace nodded; her back was aching from stress and she could not carry on a conversation while she had to remain standing. Making a pained face, she said, “There are no chairs in here.”   
Snape looked puzzled at her observation, “No, there aren’t.”  
“My back is killing me,” Grace explained, “There aren’t any chairs to sit in and I don’t think I could get to the floor right now.”  
He glanced around the room, “No. But there are desks. If you must sit.”   
Grace was conflicted; her back was killing her, but sitting on a desk felt rude somehow. Another bolt of pain struck her spine, zapping through her concerns of rudeness, so she decided to take a seat on the desktop.   
After her pain had receded a bit, she figured she should make small talk, “Do you like teaching?”  
Snape blinked, “I’m here because Dumbledore asked me to be.”  
“That didn’t answer my question,” Grace pointed out. Realizing that was a bit rude she added, “Professor.”  
It became clear that the topic was not a good one, “Okay. So, you must like the subject then. Potions.”  
“I have always had an aptitude for it,” Snape answered.  
Grace frowned, “So, yes?”  
“I suppose; although I initially wanted to teach Defense Against The Dark Arts.”  
“Oh,” Grace thought for a moment, “Hey, um, is there any news about my sister, Lexi?”  
Looking down, Snape said, “Not that I have heard.”  
Grace’s stomach dropped to the floor, “Will you tell me if you do?”  
Snape nodded, “Of course.”  
Grace stood, “Thanks; I’m gonna head to bed now. Class starts early in the morning.”  
“And your tutoring,” Snape added.   
“I know,” Grace said, “Do you know the schedule yet?”  
“Over this past week, we’ve observed you in each class and the schedule has been made according to your strengths and weaknesses.”  
“I was right when I said I’m awful at potions, wasn’t I?”  
Nodding, Snape said, “Horrible; you are only worse at flying.”  
“Well, that’s just because I stay on the ground – I’m so terrified of heights.”  
“It is not a tested subject - be glad of that.”  
Grace laughed and returned to her dorm.

Her classes went by quickly, and she was soon standing once again outside the door to Snape’s classroom, dreading a one-on-one lesson in her worst subject.  
After two hours, however, as Grace left the session, she felt it wasn’t as bad as she had feared.  
Her least favorite tutor was Moody; he was rude and grumpy, constantly distracted. He continuously was leaving her to go to the restroom, although he took his flask with him each time, causing Grace to think he was escaping her to get drunk. Moody also seemed very preoccupied, turning the conversation to the Triwizard Tournament every chance he got. 

Her tutoring sessions were essentially uneventful and repetitive, bordering on being monotonous, over the following three weeks.  
The Monday of her fourth week of tutoring, Grace left Defense Against The Dark Arts extremely frustrated with Moody, and she was in a foul mood for her entire Charms session until Flitwick charmed a book to fly around the room, flapping its covers like wings of a bird. She left and headed to the Potions classroom laughing.  
She knocked on the large wooden door, still giggling.  
The door opened, “Is something funny?” Snape asked.  
Grace stifled her laughter, shook her head, and entered the classroom.  
“The potion we’re practicing today is more complex than those you’ve done thus far,” Snape said, sliding the textbook across the desk to her.  
Grace read quickly through the ingredients; they were very simple: powdered ginger root, pixie dust, the sap from a Whomping Willow, and powdered asphodel root.   
“This seems pretty straight-forward,” Grace said, “No worse than other ones I’ve done.”  
Snape took the book from her, “It is not the ingredients that make it complex, but the technique.”  
“What?”  
“The parts must be added in a certain order, and mixed with very specific patterns.”  
“Oh. Okay.”  
Snape oversaw Grace’s preparation of the ingredients, giving occasional suggestions on how to do things more efficiently, and then they laid the parts out next to the cauldron that was already bubbling with water.  
Grace noticed for the first time that there was a second cauldron bubbling as well, “What’s that for?”  
“Stirring practice,” Snape said. He stepped over to the second cauldron, “This Elixir is very specific. You’ll need to get the stir patterns mastered before you can do them in the actual potion.”  
“Why is it so important on this potion?”  
“One mis-stroke when stirring turns it to poison.”  
“Good reason.”  
Snape showed Grace the first pattern to use mixing the potion, and she copied it flawlessly. The next stirring method wasn’t as simple, but it was easier than the third, which required a star to be drawn in the liquid, then a cross. After showing Grace the final method four times, and Grace never being able to replicate it, Snape asked, “Can you describe it?”  
“Yeah, it’s a counter-clockwise half-circle stroke followed by a swipe across the middle of the cauldron, then two – no, three more half-circles, clockwise this time, and finally what looks like, uh…a broken heart.”  
“Exactly,” Snape said, “The potion will turn a hot pink if you’ve done it right. Time to apply it.”  
Grace took a deep breath, then released it, exhaling her cool breath down toward the neckline of her shirt; the boiling cauldrons were making the room way too hot, and the steam was making seeing clearly difficult. Grace took off her outer robe and rolled her sleeves up – it didn’t help much, but she was slightly more comfortable.   
She stood in front of the bubbling pot, added the first two ingredients, and stirring them with perfect technique, then she added the third. Grace had to practice the third stir pattern twice in the air before she felt comfortable doing it in the potion.  
Grace added the final ingredient, practiced the stir pattern six times in the air, doing something wrong each time. She looked miserably at Snape, “I can’t do it.”  
Snape came to stand behind her, reached around her body to put his hand just above hers on the ladle, then guided it to make the correct design in the bubbly liquid. Grace watched his hand, trying to memorize the pattern he drew in the potion. She saw the potion turn a muddy orange, and worried. Then, she watched it fade into a bright, hot pink color. She was so relieved - she had tried so hard to get this right; she looked up at the ceiling to thank God, forgetting Snape was behind her. Grace had leaned her head backwards into his chest.   
She turned around to see him looking down at her with a strange expression.  
“Sorry,” she muttered.  
Snape just kept the odd look on his face and said, “The steam.”  
Grace blinked.  
He pushed a section of her hair away from her face, “Your hair is protesting the steam.”  
Blinking furiously, Grace panicked; her hair did not get along well with humidity.  
His hand still in her hair, Snape said, “You really are terrible at potions.”  
Grace swallowed, nodding as she felt the intensity he was looking at her with as his hand moved to her face.  
“I know I am.”  
Snape’s dark eyes were locked on Grace’s blue ones, unmoving, steadily gazing into them. Grace hadn’t realized until now just how much time they had spent together. She had, of course, thought many times of what it might would be to breach the teacher-student boundaries, but, until this moment, had thought it was simply a schoolgirl’s fantasy.  
Snape cleared his throat and dropped his hand from her face, "Well, um, it seems you have gotten it right, Miss Riddle."  
Grace fidgeted, the tension in the room making her uncomfortable, "So I guess that's it, right?"  
Snape nodded, "Yes, that is all; you should head to your common room."  
Trudging toward the common room, Grace a thought about what had just happened. Her mind began to wander, bringing up flash is of all of the times she and the professor had interacted; she recalled the first time they had met - after she had been brought two Hogwarts… After she had been practically kidnapped, abandoning her sister. Her mind then switched tracks, forcing her into painful thoughts of 6-year-old Lexi, how scared her sister must've been, and whether or not she was safe. Her heart and mind were so filled with worry as she walked the corridor toward the Slytherin common room that she was at the door before she knew it.  
The room had 10 or 12 students in it, and only one was a friendly face; Faith, with her overly wavy blonde hair, was the only one who had not judged Grace or been mean to her, or even joined in when Malfoy and the others were calling her names like "Mudblood”. Faith was sitting on a small sofa in the corner. Needing to share her worries, Grace joined her, sitting next to Faith.  
"Have you heard anything about your sister?" Faith asked quietly so no one could hear their conversation.  
Grace shook her head, "No I'm really worried about her; what do you think will happen if – if - if something should happen where someone gets to her?"  
"I have no idea, Grace,” Faith sighed.  
A fourth-year girl whose face looked like she smelled something awful, Pansy Parkinson, stepped toward the pair on the couch, "What are you two talking about?"  
"Nothing," Faith said, "Grace is just worried about her sister."  
"Why do you care, Faith?" Pansy asked degradingly, "Isn't her sister a filthy Mudblood, too?”  
Grace frowned.  
"Yeah," Malfoy said, overhearing the conversation. He stepped to join Pansy, "With any luck, what's her name, Lexi, has been captured by Death Eaters; they know how to handle dirt like Mudbloods."  
Malfoy and Pansy walked away, smirking cruelly as the common room was filled with hateful laughter.  
"Faith," Grace asked, "What do you think will happen if they do capture my sister? You don't think they'll kill her, do you?"  
Another fourth-year who was constantly trailing along behind Malfoy, a hulking giant of a boy, Gregory Goyle, laughed derisively, "No they won't kill her, at least not at first."  
Grace had an internal debate; she didn't know if she wanted to know what they would do before killing her sister or not - knowing would somehow make Grace feel like at least Lexi wasn't alone in what was (possibly) happening to her.  
The exchange between Grace and Gregory was not going unnoticed; Malfoy was leering nearby, a short meaty boy, Vincent Crabbe, at his side.  
"No, they'll definitely want to get some information from her," Malfoy said.  
Grace's eyes widened, realizing he meant they would torture her innocent sister, "Information? What kind of information would they possibly get from a six-year-old?"  
Malfoy shrugged as Crabbe laughed at his side, "Who knows? Maybe she doesn't have any… But that doesn't mean they won't try to get some."  
Pansy Parkinson joined in, "Yeah I see are those Death Eaters can be very… persuasive."  
Crabbe’s lip curled, and Malfoy smirked, "They think all Mudloods are dirt anyway – “  
Pansy scoffed, "Who doesn't, really?"  
Malfoy shot a look at her before he continued, "So I'm sure they will take pleasure in getting rid of her -- I'm sure they'll take their time.…"  
"Yeah," Goyle said, "I've heard they drain all of their blood, to see if it really is made of mud."  
Grace’s face went pale as she began to hyperventilate; she had an awful image in her mind of Lexi bloody and lifeless on a cold, hard floor. Lexi was only six! Grace felt tears welling up in her eyes; she could not stand the thought of her sister being tortured to death.   
She jumped up off the couch; she couldn't be here in this room any longer. She flung open the door to the common room and bolted into the hallway as tears started to fall, flowing unstoppably from her eyes and down her face.  
She had no idea where she was going. All she knew was that she could not remain in that common room for a single second longer. It was well after midnight, and the castle was dark; Grace could barely see where she was going. She had no idea where she was heading, so she just let her feet take her where they would. Unable to see through the tears in her eyes, Grace decided she would head into the next room on her right; she had no idea where she was, only that this room would provide solace and escape from the horrors being played out by the students back in the common room.  
She burst through the large wooden door, entering whatever room it was, slammed it behind herself, leaned back against it and slid to the floor, overcome with tears. She bawled uncontrollably, trembling with a mixture of terror and anger. Had she not been so preoccupied with the awful thoughts of what might be happening to her sister even at this very moment, Grace might give recognize the room - she'd been here many times. As she gathered herself, and her eyes began to focus, she slowly began to realize that her feet had followed a very familiar path. They had brought her to the Potions classroom.  
Grace had almost fully composed herself by the time Snape entered from a room in the back.  
He emerged from what appeared to be an overly large closet, several bottles in his hands. Seeing Grace, he set the bottles down and walked over to her.  
"Are you alright?"  
It was obvious on Grace’s the face that she had been crying; her eyes were red and her cheeks were still wet.  
Grace sniffed, "I'm peachy. Obviously."  
Snape frowned and crouched in front of her, his face questioning.  
"Lexi is probably dead, isn't she?"  
"I honestly cannot know."  
"I don't like it here," Grace said.  
"You are only here so you can stay safe."  
Grace snorted, "When do I get to leave? Everyone is so mean."  
"What happened?"  
"Well, for starters, I keep getting called a Mudblood, and dirty, and worthless," Grace heard her voice crack and felt the dampness begin to rise in her eyes once more; she looked down, not wanting to cry again.  
Placing a cool hand on her cheek, Snape lifted her face up slightly to look at her, "You are not worthless."  
Sniffing once more, Grace felt another tear escape and trickle down her face; she hung her head, letting it roll farther down.  
Snape wiped it away with his thumb, “Look at me.”  
Grace reluctantly lifted her eyes to his, remembering the moment earlier in the evening.  
"You are not worthless," Snape said again. A conflicted look flickered briefly across his face a moment before he hesitantly brought his lips to meet hers. He had done it. He had breached the border; he had crossed the line separating teacher and student.  
Surprised, it took a moment for it to register to Grace that she was actually kissing her teacher, or that her teacher was kissing her. She thought that it was interesting that, unlike his hand had been, his lips were warm. Although it seemed as though things were moving in slow motion, it was over too quickly.  
Snape pulled away and searched her face with his eyes for a moment. Grace looked down, blushing.  
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Snape said, “I’m sorry.”  
Lifting her eyes to meet his, Grace wondered if he wished he hadn't have crossed the line that had previously separated them.  
"Don't apologize,” Grace said, “I really didn't mind,” she paused for a moment, wondering what Snape was thinking.   
He remained silent, still looking unsure.  
"Really," Grace assured him, "I didn't mind… At all, actually."  
Snape looked at her oddly, as if he were baffled that this was the truth.  
Grace sighed, then placed her hand on top of his, "I didn't complain; honestly, I really didn't mind," she bit her lip, "I actually had been wondering if you are ever going to do that… Well, hoping really."  
“However flattering that may be, you are my student, and I should not have done that. I apologize," Snape said.  
Grace shook her head, a smile playing at her lips, "But, I'm not really your student; I'm only your fake student."  
"Although this is true," Snape broke eye contact with Grace, "It was still inappropriate, do you not agree?"   
Grace just sighed. She did not agree, not at all, "Professor, no, actually I don't agree. And even if it was, does it really matter? I'm breaking the rules simply by being at Hogwarts, aren't I? Why not break a couple more?" She gave his hand a light squeeze.  
"You do not understand; there are things… Things that you don't know - if you did… Well, there are just things you don't know about me."  
"Professor Snape, no one can know everything about everyone; surely there is nothing that horrible about you."  
Sighing, Snape shook his head, unconvinced.  
Grace smiled subtly and crossed her arms, feigning a pout, "So there!"  
A quick smirk flashed across Snape's face before he once more cupped her face in his hand and lowered his mouth to hers.  
Grace closed her eyes, pleasantly surprised at his sudden change of heart. Although she had been distraught previously, simply being in his presence was comforting; having this new level of intimacy with him was enough to quell her nerves entirely. This was the first time she had felt truly comfortable since he had arrived at the school, here, with her professor, knowing that not everyone here was against her; for the first time in over a month she felt like someone actually desired her presence.  
Grace could tell that Snape was still hesitant; his lips were only brushing against hers, slowly moving on her own lips. Grace pulled back slightly, "I was serious when I said I was hoping you would do this, Professor Snape."  
She heard Snape swallow hard; he nodded once, the he pressed his lips to hers once more. He pushed the hair out of her face, running his fingers through it, then let his hand moved down to her neck, his thumb on her jawbone. No trace of hesitation left, a bit of passion began to work its way into the way he kissed her; their lips caressed each other's. Grace felt his tongue occasionally meeting with her mouth; she parted her lips, inviting his tongue to move between them. Snape kissed her deeply for a brief moment before pulling away.

Grace smiled slightly at him, "So I guess I should head back to the common room now, right?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a month, the first Triwizard Tournament task was taking place. All of the students in this Slytherin House were babbling excitedly two weeks before the first task. The students were discussing how they were excited, both to watch the event, and to see their family members, who were allowed to attend the events; their mothers and fathers, grandparent, brothers or sisters were permitted to come to the castle to view the competition, and even to stay for dinner afterwards. Malfoy and Pansy were happily discussing their parents’ arrival.   
"Hey, Grace," Vincent Crabbe said meanly, "Who is coming from your family?"  
Malfoy looked over, "That's right, you don't have any family, do you?"  
"Hey," Faith said, "Leave her alone!"  
Sneering, Malfoy snapped, "Why are you defending her? She's just a filthy Mudblood; a Mudblood with no family. I doubt they'd even let a stupid Muggle come to Hogwarts, anyway."  
Grace bit her tongue to prevent saying something nasty back. He was right though; she didn't have any family left… She wondered again if Lexi was okay.  
Grace went to her first class of the day, Charms, still contemplating where her sister was. She was so distracted throughout the lesson that she couldn't pay any attention. Grace was preoccupied that treacherous thought throughout the day, until she was faced with a more pressing problem; her last class was Potions - she had not seen Snape since her last tutoring lesson, since they had kissed. Would it the awkward? She knew that they could not address the occurrence during class, but she hoped that perhaps she could read his body language toward her to determine what he thought.  
The Potions class went by rather quickly; Snape did not act differently at all, although he did seem to cut his eyes over towards her quite often - she caught him watching her several times throughout the hour. When he had dismissed the class, and the students began to leave the room, Grace lingered behind.  
"Miss Riddle," Snape said, "Could I have a word?"  
Grace approached him, "Yes, Professor?"  
"How are your other tutoring sessions going?"  
"Fine, I guess," Grace replied, "Professor Moody does seem a bit distracted, though. Transfiguration is easy. And well, then there's, well, you know I'm wretched at Potions; I proved that, it didn't I? At our last session, I mean."  
Snape flexed his hand uncomfortably, "Yes, well, about our last session…" He trailed off.  
Grace frowned, "Yes? What about it? Did you test the potion? Did I do something wrong?"  
"No, no," Snape said, "I guess I should have specified," he cleared his throat, "Not about the lesson. Afterwards. When you came back. I fear I may have taken advantage, misused my authority."  
Scoffing, Grace said, "You didn't. I could have left, couldn't I have? I didn't. You did not take advantage."  
She could see on his face that he was still not convinced; she slipped her hand in his, "I didn't leave. Hell, I reciprocated… When you, when you kissed me."  
Snape took a step toward her, closing the gap between them, tilted his head slightly down, and brought his lips to hers again.  
"I am aware of that," he said after they parted, "However, you are upset; I wanted to be certain you were not reconsidering it."  
Grace sighed, slightly mockingly.  
"You don't want to miss the first task, do you?"  
Grace rolled her eyes, "Honestly, I don't really care about the competition."  
"No, I wouldn't imagine you would; it seems so trivial, all things considered, doesn't it? Especially since you do not know where Lexi is."  
Grace smiled inwardly; he had remembered her sister's name.  
"I myself have never cared much for the Triwizard Tournament; it seems rather brutal. Unnecessarily so."  
And so, Snape and Grace did not watch the first task of the Triwizard Tournament; instead, they roamed the castle's corridors for a while before returning to the Potions classroom.


	3. Tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace sees something Snape never intended her to view.

“You seem to be very enthusiastic about books; I noticed when in the library,” Snape said as Grace hopped up onto a desk.  
“Yeah, I love to read; every story is like a whole other world, the characters have their own problems, which lets me forget about mine, and there can be so much depth and so many layers in a book – that’s when you can tell an author is dedicated; it shows, their passion.”

The shadow of a smile touched Snape’s face, “Come,” he said, taking Grace’s hand and leading her to the small hallway at the back of his classroom. He unlocked a door, quietly pushed it open, and showed Grace inside. Immediately, she knew that these were his living quarters; a small, dark wooden coffee table sat in front of a single loveseat, an armchair at its side. But what caught Grace’s interest (and what Snape had wanted to show her) was the three walls that were covered, floor to ceiling, with books.   
Grace blinked in awe, “How many do you have? Hundreds?”  
Snape sat in the armchair, “Two-thousand, three-hundred forty-seven.”  
“Wow,” Grace breathed, looking at the collection in wonder, “Can I?”  
“By all means.”

Grace walked along the walls, her fingers trailing over the hardbacks, paperbacks, and gold-embossed classics, Snape’s dark eyes following her.  
“Oh!” Grace said, “The Odyssey; I’ve only read the first few chapters, but loved it!” She pulled the book from its place and went to sit on Snape’s sofa, her legs curled up underneath herself. 

Grace had read a hundred pages before she realized Snape was watching her.  
“What?” she asked.  
“Nothing.”  
“It’s creepy; cut it out, weirdo!” Grace flung a couch pillow at her teacher, which resulted in him rising from the armchair to place the pillow gingerly on the sofa before leaning over to kiss Grace’s lips. Taking the book from her hands and setting it on the table, he sat beside her and brought his mouth to hers again. She shifted her body closer to him, resting her wrists on the professor’s shoulders as he took her waist in his hands. Grace smiled against his lips when she felt his cool hand move to her knee. Snape traced lines over the skin on her knee, leaning toward her, slowly pushing Grace to lie down on the sofa. Grace broke their kiss to look up at him, “Hi.”  
Snape responded by bringing his mouth to Grace’s neck, pushing the neckline of her shirt aside to drag his lips across the skin just above her pink bra. Grace closed her eyes and pressed her lips together as she felt Snape’s hand slide farther up her leg, the tips of his fingers just underneath the hem of her skirt. She squirmed when she felt his hand playing at the side of her panties, attempting to move the fabric over and out of the way of his fingers. Snape lightly bit Grace’s chest in response to successfully moving her panties aside and touching her body. Grace bit her lip and inhaled sharply when his skin finally brushed against her now damp flesh. She felt him slowly run his fingers over her before he pushed a digit inside. Grace kissed Snape passionately as he added a second finger, exploring her body deeper.   
“S – Severus,” she stammered through heavy breaths, “You didn’t act – oh! actually bring me here for the books, did – did you?”  
Snape pulled his lips away and removed his hand, sitting up, “As a matter of fact, that’s precisely why I brought you here; I thought you’d enjoy my collection.”  
Grace swallowed hard, “Oh…okay. Sorry.”  
“I don’t want you to feel that I have…less-than-noble intentions, I apologize,” Snape said, “I will let you read, or peruse the shelves again, if you wish.”  
Grace raised herself slightly, “I honestly was joking; we can – we should – continue.”  
Snape stood, sighing, “Not tonight.”  
He walked around behind the sofa, then leaned over to bring his lips to Grace’s neck briefly before whispering in her ear, “I look forward to that time; I daresay you felt wonderful.”  
Grace shivered at the sultry words spoken against her ear and sighed as Snape retreated to his bedroom.  
She continued reading The Odyssey, finishing a quarter of the novel before she began to doze. 

Snape returned to his sitting room to see Grace sound asleep on the sofa, the book laying on her stomach. He hesitated, debating waking her, before he quietly stepped to retrieve a light blanket from a cupboard. Snape gently lifted the book off her, setting it on the coffee table, careful not to lose the page she was on. He spread the blanket over Grace, gazed at her for a moment, then left to his bed.

 

Snape walked quietly around to his small kitchen in the morning, making tea, trying to not wake Grace.  
Once the tea was brewed and the smell of it lightly scented the air to make itself known to Grace, she stirred and sat up slowly.

“Shit,” Grace cursed, shocked and horrified to realize she had fallen asleep, “I – I’m sorry; I guess I was more tired than I thought.”

Sitting beside her on the sofa, Snape set a cup of steaming tea on the coffee table, “No need to apologize, Grace. I’ve made tea,” he handed her the cup he was holding. Grace eyed him, curious as to how he managed to look so different and yet the same without his usual dark robes, which he had exchanged for a pair of deep grey pants and a white button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled a quarter of the way up.

Grace smiled at him, “Thank you.”  
She took a few sips of the hot beverage before clearing her throat awkwardly, “I suppose my falling asleep in my professor’s living quarters would be frowned upon.”

Snape smirked, flexing his hands, “Indeed. But I doubt the falling asleep would be frowned upon more than other incidents that took place.” 

Blushing, Grace shifted, recalling the feeling of her professor’s hand on her. Following his movements with her eyes, Grace yawned as Snape reached for his tea that was on the table. The sleeve of his shirt rode up as he stretched his arm out to retrieve his drink. The black tattoo on his forearm was revealed.

Grace leaped up, enraged, “You! You bastard; you lying, evil bastard! I cannot fucking believe you!” She yelled as loud as she could, “You scumbag! You’re one of them! You’re a Death Eater! You evil, sick, lying piece of shit!”

Snape jumped to his feet, “Grace, no; I’m not. I swear it.”

“That fucking tattoo sure as hell says otherwise!”

“I was young, stupid, power-hungry.”

Grace roared, “And you’ve moved up, right to disgusting, murderous asshole! You tried to say you were sorry my sister may have been taken by them when you probably helped plan her kidnapping!”

“Grace, I didn’t; I didn’t know anything about the attack on your family.”

“Why the hell should I believe you? Every single word out of your mouth has been a lie!” Grace was so furious that she was shaking.

Snape sighed, “You shouldn’t believe me, but it is true. I should have told you about my past. I’m not proud. But I have never lied to you.”

Grace snarled, “You are a piece of work, you know that?”

“I was trying to help you.”

Snapping, Grace flung the scalding tea in Snape’s face, “Go fuck yourself.”  
She stormed out of his chambers.

Grace fumed and raged even more once she was in her dormitory; of course he’d been lying! He had ulterior motives all along. That bastard. Then she started beating herself up. How could she have been so stupid? What a naïve, idiotic, gullible child she’d been! 

She did not go to any classes the following two days, too enraged to focus on anything. Grace returned to her lessons on the third day, however, she refused to attend Potions. She had gone almost week and a half without stepping foot in Snape’s classroom before she was called to Dumbledore’s office, where she was informed that, unless she return to his classes, Grace would face detention every night until the end of the year.

Grace grudgingly attended Potions the next day. She sat in the second to last row, attempting to avoid any interaction with her teacher. Snape entered the room from the back closet; his face was still slightly blistered from the tea – Grace smirked. 

Seeing Grace he made a pained face, “Ah, Miss Riddle, I see you decided to rejoin the class.”

“Only because Dumbledore insisted,” she snapped, “Trust me, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be here.”

Snape pursed his lips.

Grace asked innocently, “What happened to your face?”

Sighing quietly, Snape replied, “I spilt tea.”

Hugo, a Hufflepuff asked, “It looks like it hurt; did it?”

“Yes.”

Grace pretended to attempt to keep her voice low, but loudly scoffed, “Good.”

The class gasped and murmured at Grace’s comment.

The lesson went by with no other incident, however Grace gave Snape an icy glare every chance she got.

As the students were packing to leave the classroom, Snape said, “Miss Riddle, could I have a word?”

Grace turned to face him, staring straight into his eyes, “You could go to Hell.”

Grace decided she would only attend every other Potions lesson. Even doing that was hard; every night after she was forced to be in the same room as that despicable man, Grace would huddle on her bed to cry.


	4. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snape gives Grace an unexpected surprise.

Two months went by slowly; the second task of the Triwizard Tournament approached. Students were excitedly looking forward to seeing their families, and the Slytherins were, once again, harassing Grace about her lack of a family. Pansy Parkinson regularly joined in with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle to taunt Grace and torment her with horrifying scenarios involving Lexi.

The Second Task was a ridiculous challenge requiring Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, Cedric Diggory, and Harry Potter to retrieve a stolen item from The Black Lake. Grace really didn’t want to watch it, but Faith had a way of talking her into things.

The task was especially boring for spectators; the entire event took place underwater. To Grace, the most interesting part of it all was the fact that the judges decided to give second place to Harry, who had technically been third; Grace thought the judges were biased in favor of “The Boy Who Lived”.

After the task, everyone headed toward the Great Hall for dinner and celebrations. The guests of the students, who had been seated to watch the task in the uppermost bleachers, were now meeting their relatives on the large stone courtyard in front of the castle entrance. Grace stayed on the outer edge of the crowd, giving the families room to gather.

“Gracie?” Grace thought she heard a small voice from within the crowd. She shook her head, telling herself there were at least 20 Graces or Gracies in this crowd. But she heard it again, this time closer, “Gracie? Grace? Where are you, Gracie?”

And then, a small girl with blonde curls appeared in the crowd: Lexi.

“Lexi!” Grace ran to meet her young sister, scooping her into her arms, squeezing her so tightly it could have bruised the 6 year old’s ribs. 

“I can’t breathe, Gracie!” Lexi coughed.  
Setting her sister down, Grace saw a beaming silver-haired woman standing to the side.  
“Granny?!” Grace took Lexi by the hand and rushed to meet her grandmother.  
“Oh, I was so worried! I thought you’d both been killed!” Grace hugged her grandmother tightly.  
After several minutes more of hugs, tears, and laughter, Grace asked, “How did you…?”  
Her grandmother gave her a worn look, “It took the longest time; we thought we may never see you again. But one day, about two months ago, a man showed up at our safehouse. He said he knew you, and that you were safe. He said you were at a school, and that he was your professor.”

Grace swallowed.  
“Lexi, stay here with granny for a few minutes, okay?”  
Lexi nodded.

Grace quickly walked through the crowd until she saw Snape standing at the far edge; when he saw her, he smiled ever so faintly. Grace felt her heart skip a beat as she was overcome with gratitude, enlightenment, and awe at what he had done. She hurried to him and threw her arms around his neck, “Thank you. Thank you so much.” Grace held his face, “I’m so sorry. So sorry. Thank you.” She pressed her lips to his cheek, her fingers in his hair, “You are amazing,” she professed before putting her forehead on his shoulder. 

Grace felt Snape’s hand on the back of her head, his other arm around her, “I never lied to you,” he said quietly. It was odd that she could hear his words that were spoken so softly; then she realized that nearly all other conversations had stopped; everyone’s eyes were on the pair. Snape cleared his throat and released Grace.  
He looked thoughtful for a moment before saying loudly, “Miss Riddle’s family has been missing for six months; she did not know if they were even alive. I found them and brought them here. Naturally, Miss Riddle was grateful and relieved; she saw fit to thank me by means of an embrace. A hug in gratitude for safely delivering a family in danger.”

The students and their relatives returned to their conversations. Snape looked down at Grace, “Go. Be with your sister.”  
Grace nodded, flashed a smile at him, then returned to her granny and Lexi.  
Lexi and their grandmother ate dinner in The Great Hall with Grace.  
“That professor of yours is a good man,” Grace’s grandmother commented.  
“Yeah, I’d say so.”  
Her grandmother smiled knowingly, “He went to a lot of trouble finding us; he must really care about you.”  
Grace smiled to herself.

Although she was disappointed to see her family go, Grace was glad that she would now have a chance to see Snape without anyone around.  
She entered his classroom hesitantly, unsure if he would be upset with her for how she had treated him.

“Snape,” she said quietly when he had seen her.  
Lifting his dark eyes to look at Grace, he raised an eyebrow, “Yes?”  
“Again, I am so so unbelievably sorry.”  
“Stop apologizing; had you behaved any differently, I would have questioned your sanity.”  
Grace smiled, “I’m not 100% sure on that to begin with.”  
Smirking, her professor shook his head.  
Grace frowned, “Are we required to attend the Yule Ball tomorrow night?”  
Snape frowned, “Not technically. But students are not allowed to be anywhere other than the Great Hall or their dormitories.”  
“So, unless I want to stay in bed all evening, yes?”  
“Why do you ask?”  
“It seems silly to go to a dance without a date or friends; I have neither.”  
“Fair enough.”  
“Most girls like to put on a fancy dress and get all beautiful; it’s fun sometimes, but the dress always makes it where you can’t breathe and, personally, I like breathing.”  
Snape smiled to himself.

Grace was irritated before 5pm the evening of the Ball; girls were squealing about makeup, fighting over boys, and crying over panty hose with runs.  
Grace applied her makeup and pulled her hair into a design she herself was amazed by before dressed in her floor-length dusty-rose halter dress, getting Faith to clasp it around her neck.  
After stepping into silver high heels, Grace took a deep breath and headed to the Great Hall. The room was extravagantly decorated with icicles and snow; although the room was half-full, The Weird Sisters were still putting the final touches on their setup. Most of the teachers were patrolling the floor, although Hagrid was dancing with Madame Maxime, Mad-Eye and Filch were each dancing with their cats, while a few others lingered at the enormous punch bowl. 

Grace stood at the top of the staircase, having to talk herself into entering the jungle. Eager to get away from the top of the stairs, she braced herself and descended. Halfway down, she saw Snape, which, for some reason, calmed her. Her professor smiled when their eyes met, but he was then whisked away into a conversation with McGonagall and Dumbledore.

Finding Faith, Grace sat at a table, nibbling on cookies and drinking fruit punch for at least two hours hour, humming to the music.

Apparently, the band was ending the night with a very popular song; the first chords caused the students to scream enthusiastically. Faith rushed over to Grace, grabbed her wrists, attempting to pull Grace from her chair, “Come on, Grace! It’s ‘La-La-La-Love Spell’!” Faith successfully got Grace to stand, although begrudgingly, however, she only managed to pull her friend to the edge of the dance floor before playfully shoving her and getting sucked into the insanity of the students.  
Grace sighed and turned to make her way back to the table, which was now occupied, not a single seat available; she growled internally. Deciding she would just stand until the song – and apparently, the Ball – was over, Grace debated taking off her heels.

“I don’t believe you needed a fancy dress for you to be beautiful,” Snape walked up from behind her.  
Grace blushed.  
“You’ll be free in a minute; this miserable thing is almost over.”  
Faintly smiling, Grace looked at him, “Thank God.”  
She felt his hand rest gently on the small of her back, “I was hoping you could spare a moment when this Ball has ended.”  
She nodded once, “Sure.”


	5. The Yule Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of The Yule Ball has arrived. Grace has dreaded it, but Snape finds a way to make the evening enjoyable...VERY enjoyable.

The Weird Sisters decided to give in to the students’ demands for an encore, and then a second.  
Finally, the Ball came to an end and everyone filed out of the Great Hall. 

  


Grace followed Snape to his quarters, where he took her hand, “I’m sorry I lied to you, Grace, about my past, who I am.”  
“Were.”  
  
Snape furrowed his brow.  
  
“Who you were; not who you are,” Grace corrected, “You’re not that person anymore.” She placed a soft kiss on his cheek before looking sternly at him, “Is this why you wanted a moment? To apologize again?” Grace rolled her eyes and walked away from him to look at a painting on the wall.  
  
“I believe I hurt you,” Snape’s voce flowed over the air as he came to stand behind her. “I don’t want to hurt you,” Grace felt his fingers on the bare skin of her upper back as he brought his lips to her neck; she shivered.  
  
“I never want to hurt you,” he said, his mouth lingering on her back as his hand moved to the side of her neck.  
  
“Severus…”  
  
She was silenced by the feeling of his fingers brushing over the back of her neck as he unclasped the top of her dress. One hand followed the curve of her body to find the zipper, while the other caressed her shoulder.  
  
Snape slowly unzipped Grace’s gown, “You did say you can’t breathe in a dress.” Grace felt him smile against her skin.  
  
Snape had the dress completely undone before he ran his hands on either side of Grace’s neck then took the fabric and slid it from her body, letting it flow like water onto the floor. Grace shivered as the cool air met her bare skin. Snape trailed his hands back up Grace’s sides and let them move to feel her breasts. Biting her lip as she felt him grow hard against her, she turned slowly to face him, “I take it we’re continuing.”  
  
Snape’s eyes ventured over the body before him briefly before ensnaring her lips in a passionate kiss, pulling her against him. Feeling his hands on her now bare back, Grace found Snape to be overdressed; she pushed his cloak off his shoulders and attempted to unbuckle his belt, her hands brushing over the hard bulge under his pants. Stepping in, Snape unbuckled it with one hand, pushing his trousers down while Grace unbuttoned his shirt.  
  
Snape ravenously kissed her, leading Grace backwards into his bedroom, lying her on the bed before joining her. Snape let his hands explore her shoulders, his fingers trace her collarbone, and his mouth brush over her breasts, taking each nipple in his mouth before running his hands over Grace’s legs. She was dying for him to touch her, but Snape was not going to oblige. He returned to nibbling her neck, massaging her breast as he enticed her. Moving back to her legs, Snape resumed brushing his fingers along her skin. Grace wanted to tell him to quit being a tease, but, honestly, she was relishing his every touch. Snape kissed Grace’s right thigh, his hand moving up the left. He then switched, kissing the left and running his hand up her right. Grace sighed, causing him to look up at her and give a mischievous smirk before finally pulling her panties down. Snape tossed them to the floor then turned to the newly revealed view. He growled in his throat, seeing her glistening body. Snape gently pushed her legs apart to gaze at Grace, who was very wet already.   
“God, you are beautiful.”  
  
Grace barely had time to blush before she felt his fingers gently touch her.  
Snape felt her body, his fingers sliding over the slippery flesh, as he kissed her. He slid his fingers inside, his mouth open on hers. Grace groaned and squirmed.  
  
“Se-Severus…I’m – I’ve… a virgin,” she thought perhaps he should know he was about to deflower a young girl.  
  
Snape looked at her.  
  
“I mean, but, oh! you…should…ah…you should know,” it was hard to construct a sentence with his fingers inside her, “but you might... worry about – want to know – I’ve – I’ve never - .”  
  
“No?” Snape breathed into her mouth, “You’ll tell me if…mm...If I'm hurting you? Ohh.”  
  
She nodded.  
  
Snape then slowly increased the speed he used to move his fingers.  
  
He left her mouth to lower his to Grace’s innocence. Snape kissed her swollen lips, tasting the sweet juice.  
  
“Mm.”  
  
Snape lifted Grace’s bottom to drape her legs over his shoulders as he stroked her body with his tongue. He brought his fingers back to the pink folds, pushing inside her, carefully listening for sounds of protest. Snape returned to licking and suckling Grace, growing more aroused by her hips lifting to meet his tongue. He ran his hands over her lower back and across her bottom, lightly enough to where it almost tickled. Snape lapped his tongue on her soaked lips, earning him a guttural moan and a quiet, “Ooh”.  
  
Snape let his hands graze over her thighs while his tongue elicited soft moans from Grace. Her vocals slowly quieted and she touched Snape’s cheek.  
  
“Let me,” she whispered. She rolled on top of him, taking his much-larger-than-average erect rod in her hand to stroke him. Snape grunted in response to her touch. She softly touched him for a moment before taking hold and moving her hand up and down, earning her another grunt of pleasure. Grace licked her lips before placing a delicate kiss on the tip; she felt his body tense slightly. Snape groaned quite audibly when Grace took the head of his cock in her mouth, but it was nothing like the moan he let out as she opened her mouth wider and took his entire length. Grace enjoyed the sounds he was making because of her; she continued licking and sucking him until she was out of breath.  
  
Snape was breathing heavily as he returned to lie on top, “Are you sure you’ve never…? He thought that Grace had talents that a virgin couldn’t.  
  
Grace blushed, “I think I’d know if I had.”  
  
Snape’s mouth consumed hers again before he kissed her inner thigh ravenously.  
  
"Yes?" he asked if she was prepared for what he knew would not be comfortable for her at first.  
  
Grace nodded, "Yes. Please."  
  
He then softly kissed Grace’s neck as he pushed himself inside her.   
Grace inhaled sharply then sighed as she felt his huge member enter her, solid, hot and thick. She rolled her hips as Snape thrust slowly.  
  
Grace moaned in his ear, causing him to pick up pace. She felt his hands venturing over her body, lingering at the sides of her neck then resting on her breasts, cupping and squeezing them as he delved into her body.  
  
Severus let one hand to venture over her breasts, while the other slid down to spread her wet lips enough so he could massage Grace’s most sensitive spot.  
  
Groaning quite loudly, Grace arched her back; Snape brought his mouth to her ear, his lips brushing on her skin, “I would never hurt you, Grace. You mean so much to me.”  
  
Grace was breathless, her heart thudding in response to feeling her teacher moving inside her, but she thought there may have been another reason.  
  
Snape’s mouth hovered slightly above her own, their lips barely brushing together, “I believe I’m in love with you, Grace.”  
  
Grace pulled his head down to kiss her teacher passionately, “S – Sever – I love you, as well - ohh – Severus…”  
  
Snape passionately kissed her neck while his fingers continued to move on her pearl.  
  
He felt her entire body tense for a moment before Grace moaned loudly and was overcome with tremors.  
  
Snape slowed his movements, letting Grace ride out the orgasm.  
  
She panted, opening her eyes to look at her professor, “Oh my God.”  
Snape smiled caringly before kissing her again. He kissed her deeply, resuming rolling his hips between her legs. Snape watched her face, glistening with dampness as he slid in and out of her. Grace bit her lip, brought her hands to her lover’s back, and ran her fingernails over his shoulder blades.  
  
Snape’s movements became more rhythmic and stiff before he ravenously kissed her lips, pushing his tongue into her mouth as he throbbed within her and released his warmth.  



End file.
